Hello everybody. Iíve got a column this time around that touches
on an issue that I think is hurting sports in general, so letís get right to it.
I welcome anybodyís opinion on what I have to say here, because I would love to
hear other perspectives or similar experiences. My E-mail address will be at the
end of this column. Itís a long one this time around, so if youíre pressed for
time, bookmark this page and check it out later!! J

SENATORS vs OILERS - A Yearly Ritual Turned Sour

OK, I want to make one thing perfectly clear. I am originally
from British Columbia in a little hick town/island called Masset. When I was
born, my father was stationed there in the military. As a kid, I got the chance
to see some very isolated if not exotic places. I got to live in the Northwest
Territories for 4 years. I got to live in Bermuda, of all places, not once, but
twice, 5 years total. However, the place Iíve called home for the past 15 years
or longer is Ottawa, Ontario. So if youíre wondering what exactly could an A+
certified computer technician know about hockey, as the Molson commercial goes,
I AM CANADIAN!!! That being said, it can safely be said that I earned my passion
for hockey honestly. When I lived in the Northwest Territories in the early to
mid 1980s, it just so happened that a team who called themselves the Edmonton
Oilers were making a name for themselves in a big way. Forget about the fact
that they had the NHLís leading scorer ever on the team in Wayne Gretzky. Forget
about the fact that they had his bodyguard in Dave Semenko. Forget about the
fact that they had the biggest scoring European of all time in Jari Kurri. And
furthermore, forget about the fact that they had a pretty good squad of players
in Mark Messier, Charlie Huddy, Craig MacTavish, Marty McSorley, Kevin LoweÖthe
list goes on. What they did in the 80s goes beyond the players, the team, the
management, the fans. They created a legend that will forever be etched in
hockey history. They became only the first real Canadian dynasty of the
post-expansion era.

Of course you have the Montreal Canadiens, the most storied
franchise ever. But prior to the first round of expansion in the late 60s, early
70s, you only had 6 teams in the NHL. After expansion, teams like the
Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders were not only good enough, but lucky
enough to be able to win the Stanley Cup and get a taste of what only Montreal,
Toronto, Boston, Chicago, New York Rangers and Detroit had the privilege of
experiencing. Around this time that the Oilers were winning Stanley Cups was
around the time that I got into watching hockey and realizing the great game
that we Canadians invented. Those years from 1983 until 1990 changed my life
forever, and since then I have always been a fan and will forever have a special
place in my heart for the Edmonton Oilers. Itís easy for someone to say that
they are an Oilers fan just because of the fact that they were winning at the
time, but it was much more than that. Even when they werenít winning, I was
there to cheer them on. Iíve always firmly believed that when you pick a team
you stick with it through thick and thin. Of course at the time it was easy for
me to pick the Oilers as my favourite team, but what sets me apart from a lot of
hockey and sports fans is that even today I have remained a fan. Why am I
writing all of this?? I want to make a statement that I am a 100% true devoted
Edmonton Oilers fan. Yes, you read that correctly. I live in a city that now has
had its own NHL franchise, the Ottawa Senators, for 10 seasons now. Through it
all I have witnessed some pretty exciting hockey and some pretty boring hockey,
but I have remained an Oilers fan. Of course, 2002 will make it 12 years since
the Oilers last drank from the Stanley Cup, but along with that year and the 4
wins prior to that year are memories that I will cherish forever, and will
(hopefully) be able to experience again.

So now, I get to my whole point behind all of this. I mentioned
in my previous column that if I witnessed anything interesting at the Senators/Oilers
game on March 14 that I would share it with you all. Either Iím getting too old,
or hockey fans now just donít get it. As much as I do not really care for the
"Original Six" rivalries of the past, I can appreciate what they mean to the
game and I would never ever intentionally make anybody feel bad about being fans
of any of those teams, nor would I ever question anybodyís reasoning behind
liking a particular team. Perhaps if I were old enough to have had the
opportunity to witness the Original Six years I may appreciate them more.
Unfortunately I wasnít around either to witness the 1972 Summit Series, but I
also know that it shaped the history of our game and it gives me an appreciation
of where our game has been. Make no mistake, I live in Ottawa and do like to
catch the occasional Senators game, either on TV or live. Having already said
that Iím a die hard Oilers fan, you already know that I donít ever miss it when
they come to town to play the Senators. This is where the point of all of what
Iíve said comes together. A friend of mine and I have made it a yearly ritual to
get together and catch that game when it comes to town. This year, I made sure I
had my tickets ready to go as usual. I got dressed in my Oilers jersey and hat
and headed out early to the local watering hole to get pumped for the game with
my friend. This year I managed to grab tickets through a promotion at this
restaurant where they not only offered a food discount, but they offered a
shuttle bus to the game. This made perfect sense, because I live in the East End
of Ottawa, and the Corel Centre is way in the West End suburbs of Ottawa. I had
been anticipating this game for a long time. I went so far as to make sure my
work schedule gave me the day off so that I could get the whole mental
preparation going. Currently, including the recent game, the Edmonton Oilers
have an 8 season domination over the Ottawa Senators. For some reason, the
Senators have never beaten the Oilers in regular season play in that time span,
and have only managed to beat them once in their entire 10 year modern history.
This obviously has boded well for me, being a die hard Oilers fan. But as I
already mentioned, unfortunately the hockey fans of today just donít get it. I
will walk around Ottawa with an Oilers baseball cap without even thinking twice
about it. This will change to their jersey once the playoffs roll around. Make
no mistake, people of Ottawa, if Ottawa were ever to meet Edmonton in the
Stanley Cup Finals, it would be my dream series come true. It wouldnít really
matter who won. The excitement in the two cities that a series of that magnitude
would generate would be absolutely mental. I would still be rooting in my heart
for the Oilers, but it would be a series that I would undoubtedly enjoy
nonetheless. Being a fan of the Oilers for so long, I cannot just change
allegiances just because Ottawa happens to have a team that could be dangerous
in the playoffs, or even because they have a franchise at all. I would probably
catch a few games along the way because I am a hockey fan after all. If ever
there was a time where Edmonton was either not in the playoff picture or
eliminated and Ottawa was still in, I would follow the Ottawa run and cheer them
on without thinking twice. Through it all, however, as any of my friends and
family will tell you, there would be a piece of my heart that would be missing
until they dropped the puck on a new season in October.

Anyway, the day started off like any other day off. Finally the
fateful time that I had been anticipating for so long came, and I met up with my
friend, we ate, we drank, and then we made the bus ride out to the Corel Centre.
Right off the bat, I get on the bus and a person who was going to the game saw
my Oilers jersey and made a comment to me that I was on the wrong bus. When I
questioned why I was told that it was because I was wearing the wrong jersey.
Rather than argue with the fan (who also happened to be female), I shrugged it
off and that was the end of it. Finally we get to the game and we are able to
watch another good game unfold for the Oilers. The game was pretty close to a
sellout. The Corel Centre seats 18500, and there were 18397 fans actually in
attendance. It was a pretty good turnout, and the usual die hard Oilers fans,
like myself, were there in full game attire with the jerseys and the flags and
even the face paint. There were easily 1000-2000 hockey fans there that were
clearly cheering for the away team and not the home team. I thought the whole
time, these fans get it, these fans can appreciate hockey history and, like me,
cannot change their allegiance.

Then, at one of the intermissions, I was standing in line
getting a coffee and there were two fans ahead of me, one with a Senators
jersey, the other with an Oilers jersey. The fan with the Oilers jersey makes a
comment to the other fan in the Sens jersey that next week they are going to
throw away the Oilers jersey and buy a Senators jersey because they apparently
have a better shot at winning it all. As it was at that particular moment, the
Oilers were winning the game, and were sitting only a few points out of a
playoff spot. I couldnít let this fan go away without asking him why he was
going to do something like this and why all of a sudden did he want to change
allegiances and cheer for the home team. His answer to me was that "because itís
time for a change". I left it at that because this was obviously a fan who
doesnít get it. Donít get me wrong, I have Ottawa Senators clothing too, but I
would never throw away any sports memorabilia.

Anyway, the rest of the game was where it started to get
interesting. My friend and I were watching the game and observing some of the
out of town scores and talking about hockey in general and just in general
enjoying the experience. We werenít being overly loud or obnoxious like Iíve
seen at some games that Iíve been to, we were simply enjoying the experience
like all fans should be. For some reason, a collection of fans who were
obviously together took exception to our discussion and asked us if we would
please be quiet and just watch the game!?!?!!? News flash to this fan: there
were already close to 18400 fans at this game and they were telling us to be
quiet? Since when did it become customary for fans to just simply be quiet at a
spectator sport in an arena that can seat 18500 fans? Granted, the home team was
losing, but even though I was wearing a jersey of the other team, I wasnít
rubbing it anybodyís face, I was simply enjoying the experience. So I spoke up
to this fan and politely told him that I paid for my ticket to get into the game
just like he did, and if he wanted people around him to be quiet then perhaps he
should have either reserved a private box or stayed at home and watch the game
on TV. This was another fan that didnít get it, and I was appalled (and still
am) at the gall and ignorance of this person. My friend then asked the person
what his problem was, why did he feel that he had to start trouble
unnecessarily, why doesnít he just be quiet and enjoy the game as well? Another
fan from this group piped up and told my friend that if the both of us didnít be
quiet that he was going to ram his fist down both of our throats. In any event,
some words that I cannot repeat here were exchanged unnecessarily and I just
wonder even now to myself, why? Hockey is spectator sport that families and
friends of all sizes, shapes, creeds, color go to see, and I just felt that this
fanís ignorance was uncalled for. If you canít go to a game and enjoy it, win or
lose, then perhaps you should stay home. I could understand the fanís outburst
if we were at a movie or play, or if we were being obnoxious and cutting down
the home team (or as Ron Barr would put it, I wasnít "Heckling"), but this fan
had absolutely no rhyme or reason to ask 2 fans out of 18400 to be quiet. If you
want to try and pump up the home team, you donít do it by trying to start a
fight in the stands and you definitely do not do it by threats of violence
amongst children. This guy was there with a couple of buddies and his wife and
two children, and not only did they show how childish they really are, they
forced arena security workers to monitor the situation needlessly. After all of
this transpired, security was almost ready to throw somebody out of the game for
nothing more than stupidity. There is no other word for it.

What bothers me most
about the whole thing, is the example that this sets for the children. If I
would have ever acted as childish as these apparent grown adults did while I was
younger, my mother would have personally seen to it that I never got to witness
another event at that venue ever again, and she made good on her word more than
once. I learned very quickly that if I was ever going to be allowed to show my
face in public again that I would behave accordingly. These people however, were
sending a message to their children that this kind of behaviour is OK. One of
the children ran over to their mother and started crying. This experience
spoiled an otherwise great day and game and I felt bad for the kids, even though
they werenít mine. Did I mention that the final score was 4-1 in favour of the
Edmonton Oilers. While I obviously was happy with the result, I am left with a
bitter taste in my mouth over the experience with the fans. I am who I am and I
am just one of the people who paid my hard earned dollar to be able to see a
hockey game. So to the fan who decided to try and spoil the night, even though I
said so to your face: I hope you are happy that you were able to dampen the
spirits of an otherwise great evening, and I hope that you bow your head in
shame for making yourself look like a fool not only in front of the 20 or so odd
fans around you, not only to the security staff of the Corel Centre, but to your
own family who had to endure your childishness. There is no place for that kind
of behaviour in society, especially when youíre at a public venue. Oh and by the
way, I didnít mention this before, but thank you for being so oblivious and
inconsiderate of the fan behind you and sitting in a position that at times
partially blocked my view of the ice. I donít even want to know what might have
transpired had I tapped this person on the shoulder and asked him to please move
his head back an inch or two. Some people just donít get it and Iím not sure if
they ever will. I am certainly not about to explain myself to anybody.

I am an Oilers fan, period, and if you donít like it, thatís too bad. Anyway, thatís my
bit on the game. It was actually a good game, fansí antics notwithstanding. Even
though I paid good money to witness the game live, I will probably enjoy it a
little better if I watch the tape in my VCR or catch some of the highlights on
Sports Center. Unfortunately it will make me think twice before buying tickets
to another game this year, but I can guarantee you that I will be there for the
next time the Oilers come to town, with or without the fans who donít get it.
Life is too short to concern oneself with the actions of others, I can only
control myself. Unfortunately this person who calls himself a fan hasnít learned
that yet. Quite frankly, if that is the way I have to be to be a hockey fan in
Ottawa (or anywhere for that matter), I want no part of it.

I know y'all are dying to give me feedback on this, so
E-mail me and give me your perspective on this or anything else hockey or sports
related:puckin45@puckinaround.net